Cooperation Mechanism of China-East ASEAN Growth Area Upgraded and the First Ministerial Conference Held

Date：
2018-12-5

Cooperation Mechanism of China-East ASEAN Growth Area Upgraded and the First Ministerial Conference Held

On November 26, the first Ministerial Conference of China-East ASEAN Growth Area cooperation was held in Brunei.

China International Trade Representative and Vice Minister of Commerce Fu Ziying and the Second Minister of Foreign Affairs of Brunei Dato Seri Paduka Haji Erywan bin Pehin Datu Pekerma Jaya Haji Mohd Yusof (Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah holds the post of the Foreign Minister) presided over the conference together. The Ministerial Level Officials of the countries of East ASEAN Growth Area (called the Growth Area for short) like Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia and Philippines and the Secretary General of ASEAN Dato Lim Jock Hoi attended the conference.

The conference reviewed the active contributions made by China since 2005 after becoming the partner of the growth area, and the important consensus reached by the leaders of China and the four countries of the growth area on upgrading and cooperation. All the parties agreed to enhance the cooperation mechanism between China and the growth area to the ministerial level, and approved The Document on Upgrading Cooperation between China and East ASEAN Growth Area. All the parties agreed to fully dock the “Belt and Road” initiative with the 2025 Vision of the Growth Area, the ASEAN Vision 2025 and the ASEAN Connectivity Blueprint 2025, and conduct key cooperations in 9 sectors like connectivity, agricultural and fishery processing and food industry, tourism and social cultural exchanges, trade and investment, digital economy, poverty reduction and inclusive development, human resources development, environment, electric power and energy. After the conference, the ministers issued the Joint Statement of the conference.

Before that, the mechanism of China-Growth Area cooperation was at the senior official level, and the meeting was held annually. After the upgrading, the senior officials meeting will promote the specific cooperation process, and report to the ministerial conference.